Published 1:00 am, Wednesday, February 1, 2006

There, nine seniors moved in a slow-motion dance, their hands rising up in front of their bodies as they took deep, cleansing breaths. Their hands then floating back down before the seniors fell into a line and stepped slowly across the room.

This was no "Swan Lake," but a lesson in
Tai Chi
, a Chinese martial art practiced throughout the world for its health benefits.

Despite it's classification as a martial art, Tai Chi differs from most of these arts because of its "soft" style with a focus on relaxation and removing all tension from the body.

"It's moving meditation," said
Dee Calvey
, the instructor leading the class. "It's martial arts slowed way down so that you learn to move in one piece. It's a blending of the mind and body."

Calvey has been teaching Tai Chi for five years, offering classes at the
Jewish Community Center
, Washington Memorial Hall and the Marketplace in New Preston.

In September, she offered her first lessons at the senior center and in early January began her latest 10-week session.

Calvey, who originally was involved in aerobics, said she quickly found that the small movements of Tai Chi were more beneficial, providing not only a soundness of body but of mind.

Calvey said it is the perfect form of exercise for seniors and others. Tai Chi focuses on flexibility and balance. Plus, participants don't need special exercise equipment, she said.

"As we age, we lose flexibility. With Tai Chi you can work on your balance with some very small movements and increase flexibility," she said. "It shows you how to use your body. It's learning to move more gracefully so you have less injury to joints."

In addition to aiding flexibility and balance, studies have shown that practitioners also report reduced pain, stress and anxiety as well as improved cardiovascular and respiratory health.

In fact, Tai Chi's gentle, low-impact movements burn more calories than surfing and nearly as many as downhill skiing.

The two had received a Tai Chi videotape, but "we really couldn't make heads or tails of it, so when we saw there was Tai Chi offered at the senior center we came, and now we love it," Anderson-Krenkel said.

"You feel good. You do feel energized and relaxed, and it really does help you when you're doing other things," Anderson-Krenkel said. "You even notice yourself standing in a different way."

Lynne Rhodes Mayer
and her husband, Harold, were first introduced to Tai Chi in 1984 on a trip to China. They immediately were drawn to its gracefulness.

"From every window we looked out you would see people in suits or kids, and it was a beautiful thing to watch," she said.

So when they saw the course offered at the senior center, they signed up.

"I thought it would be a soothing kind of exercise program because I really didn't want one of those aerobic types of things," Rhodes Mayer said. "We thought this would be something we'd enjoy and it wouldn't be too strenuous. It's turned out to be harder than we thought. It takes a lot of patience and concentration."

Still, she said, Tai Chi continues to appeal to her in ways that ordinary exercise programs don't, and she enjoys Calvey's instruction.

"She's a very endearing teacher, and she will say go home and practice and don't worry about doing it wrong," Rhodes Mayer said. "She's queen of the upbeats - very positive thinking about everything."